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INSTRUCTOR LITERATURE SERIES 


Stories From 
Newfoundland History 



Byr 

W. W. BLACKALL, B. A., D. C. L., M. B. E., 

Supt. of Education ( Ch. Eng.) 


F. A, OWEN PUBLISHING COMPANY 
DANSVILLE, N. Y. 



Fnz 

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Copyright, 1924 

F. A. OWEN PUBLISHING CO. 


Stories From Newfoundland History 


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PREFACE 


Who were the original inhabitants of Newfoundland? 
Who were the people in possession when John Cabot vis¬ 
ited the country in 1497? Did John Cabot really discover 
Newfoundland or re-discover it? This brochure is an at¬ 
tempt to answer these questions in a manner interesting 
to schoolboys and girls. 

I claim no originality in what I have written save the 
style and arrangement, which are my own. 

The books and pamphlets I have made use of are: 

The Beothucks, by James P. Howley; 

Labrador, by W. G. Gosling; 

Cabot's Voyages (A Lecture), by Archbishop Howley; 
Encyclopaedia Britannica , Ed. XI, (numerous articles). 
The Early Relations Between Newfoundland and the Chan¬ 
nel Island (The Geographical Review, Vol. II., December 
1915, No. 6), H. W. LeMessurier, C. M. G. 

Location of Helluland, MOakland and Wineland, by W. A. 
Munn; 

History of Newfoundland, by D. W. Prowse. 

W. W. BLACKALL. 


St. John’s, June 1st, 1918. 














INTRODUCTION 


If we were asked who was the first person to discover 
Newfoundland, many of us would say that John Cabot 
was the man, while the rest of us, perhaps, would say that 
he was not, and the strange thing is that we should all in 
some sense be right. It all depends upon what we mean 
by discovering. People inhabited the Island when John 
Cabot reached it, so clearly people of some sort knew of it 
before he did, and they would not have agreed that he had 
discovered it. There is an island called Jersey in the 
English Channel from which many ships came to New¬ 
foundland after John Cabot’s day, and there are Jersey 
people who claim that ships of theirs had been driven by 
stress of weather to the shores of Newfoundland on their 
way from Iceland before John Cabot was born. Lastly, 
the story goes that the Norsemen—those daring sea rovers 
of the ninth and tenth centuries who were the terror of 
all the nations along the Atlantic sea border of Europe,— 
visited the country as early as the year 1000 A. D. 

If it is meant that John Cabot was the first man belong¬ 
ing to the (fivilized world to discover Newfoundland, the 
first man to make it known to the civilized world, the man 
whose discovery led to the first permanent colonizing of 
it, then we must all agree, for in these senses John Cabot 
certainly did discover Newfoundland in 1497 A. D.; but it 
is just as certain that people inhabited Newfoundland 
long before that time, and also just as certain that Norse¬ 
men, sprung from Europe, had visited our country as 
early as 1000 A. D., nearly 500 years before John Cabot 
visited it. 

This being so, it will surely be very interesting to find 
out what the early inhabitants of Newfoundland were 
like. Where did they come from? What colour were they 



6 


STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


—white, red, brown, or black? How did they clothe them¬ 
selves? What food did they eat? Were they educated, 
and if so, to what extent? What were their customs and 
what their religion? Did they follow any industries, such 
as farming or fishing? Did they trade with other people? 
Did they know how to use iron or were their implements 
made of wood, stone, and the bones of animals? Are 
there any of them living now, and if not, what has become 
of them? 

And it will also be interesting—will it not!—to find out 
what these early visitors, the Norsemen, were like. Where 
did they come from? How did they get here? How long 
did they stay and what did they do? What parts of the 
country did they visit? 

This brochure will deal with these two very interesting 
subjects and will take them up in the order named above. 


PART I 

CHAPTER I 

The Early Inhabitants of Newfoundland 

Of course we all know that Newfoundland is an island 
close to the North American continent. It is quite pos¬ 
sible that at one time long, long years ago it was a part of 
the continent, just as the British Isles were once a part of 
the European continent. Before the Europeans colonized 
North America, it was peopled in all but the extreme 
North by numerous tribes called Indians and in the ex¬ 
treme North by brown people called Esquimaux or Eski¬ 
mos. The northern parts of Newfoundland may have 
been peopled at one time by Eskimos, but it seems pretty 
certain that at the time of John Cabot’s discovery it was 
peopled by a distinct type of Indians called Beothucks 
and that it had been so peopled for many years before. It 
is, however, very difficult to put together a trustworthy 
and particular account of the Beothucks. Many learned 
men have studied the subject and have failed to find out 
enough about these people to build up a history of them. 
No one can find out for certain where they came from in 
the beginning, and it is no easy task to discover exactly 
how they disappeared, for disappear they did. Here is a 
subject in which every Newfoundland boy or girl can 
take an interest. 

The Beothucks wrote no books, and so we have to piece 
their history together from the observations of people 
who saw them from time to time, and from relics, that is, 
from things left behind by them and found here and there 
in the country. Here is a chance for boys and girls—to 
find relics of Beothucks. 


8 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 

There was a boy attending a school in Newfoundland 
not so long ago called James P. Howley. He was always 
very fond of nature and when he became a man he trav¬ 
elled the country a great deal and was always on the 
lookout for the relics of Indians. The consequence was 
that he gathered together a great deal of information 
about this mysterious tribe and shortly before his death 
(which occurred early in the year 1918) he published a 
large and splendid book on this subject. 

Perhaps some boy or girl can think of names of places 
in Newfoundland that show that Indians once inhabited 
the country and were seen by the early British colonists. 
Here are two or three: Red Indian Lake; Indian Burying 
Place; Indian Arm; Indian Islands. Who can add to the 
list? 


CHAPTER II 

Up to the present time, it has not been possible to de¬ 
termine how the Beothucks came into Newfoundland or to 
give a certain account of their being there previous to John 
Cabot’s discovery. Mr. Howley says: “The real historic 
records of the Beothucks begin with the re-discovery of 

America in the latter part of the fifteenth century. 

.The Beothucks were found here by the Cabots on 

the discovery of the Island and for nearly three and a half 
centuries continued to occupy this oldest British Colony, 
living in their primitive ignorance and barbarism, under 
our vaunted civilization, not altogether unknown, but un¬ 
heeded and uncared for.” 

Some are of the opinion that the Beothucks were an off¬ 
shoot of the Indians who formerly inhabited the country 
lying south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Nova Scotia and 
New Brunswick); others that they were descended from 
the mountaineer Indians of the Labrador Peninsula; 
others, again, believe that they sprang from the Norse¬ 
men, who once inhabited Greenland and Iceland and who 
probably visited Newfoundland. It is possible, some peo- 




STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 9 


pie would say probable, that not one of these explanations 
is correct but rather that the Beothucks were a distinct 
people unlike, in some particulars, all the peoples of the 
world. If this be so, the study of them cannot fail to be 
interesting and it is most unfortunate that no trace of 
them can now be found: they have gone, so far as we 
know, right out of being,—this people who were the orig¬ 
inal inhabitants of our country. 

The Cabots and many others who followed them to 
Newfoundland found them here. Gaspar Corte Real, one 
of the great navigators of Portugal, captured as many as 
fifty-seven of them and sent them to Portugal as slaves. 
While none of the early explorers tells us much of the 
Beothucks, many of these explorers have left short de¬ 
scriptions of them. Some of their graves have been found, 
skeletons and implements have been unearthed, and, in 
this and other ways, students have been able to piece to¬ 
gether some information of them. 

It would seem that previous to and during the 15th cen¬ 
tury they roamed all over the country, leading the lives of 
hunters, and were many in number. Captain Buchan (of 
whom we shall read more particularly a little later) re¬ 
ported: “They are well formed, and appear extremely 
healthy and athletic, and of the medium stature, probably 
from five feet eight inches to five feet nine inches. Their 
features are more prominent than those of any of the 
Indian tribes that I have seen, and from what could be 
discovered through a lacker of oil and red ochre (or red 
earth) with which they besmear themselves, I was led to 
conclude them fairer than the generality of Indian com¬ 
plexion.Their dress consisted of a loose 

cassock, without sleeves, but puckered at the collar to 
prevent its falling off the shoulders, and made so long 
that when fastened up around the haunches it became 
triple, forming a good security against accidents happen¬ 
ing to the abdomen.They also had leggings, moc¬ 

casins and cuffs, the whole made of deer skin and worn 




10 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


with the hair next the body, the outside lackered with oil 
and red ochre, admirably adapted to repel the severity of 
the weather.” 

John Guy, who met and traded with them as early as 
1612 at the head of Trinity Bay, says of them: 

“They are of a reasonable stature, of an ordinary mid¬ 
dle size. They go bare-headed, wearing their hair some¬ 
what long but cut round; they have no beards; behind 
they have a great lock of hair platted with feathers, like a 
hawk’s lure, with a feather in it standing upright by the 

crown of the head and a small lock platted before. 

They are full-eyed, of black colour. The colour of their 
hair was divers, some black, some brown, some yellow, 
and their faces somewhat flat and broad, red with ochre, 
as all their apparel is, and the rest of their body; they are 
broad-breasted, and bold, and stand very upright.” 

From all that can be learned of them, it seems certain 
that they were bold, fearless, independent, and disposed 



A Beothuck Camp 






STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 11 


to be truthful and friendly. A particularly pleasing fea¬ 
ture of their character was the considerate and gallant 
manner in which the men treated the women. The few 
stories we have of them also lead us to believe that they 
were of great courage, the men being ready to risk their 
lives in defence of the women of their tribe. The dead 
seem to have been buried with care and reverence; in re¬ 
ligion they probably followed some form of idolatry. 

They were skilful and artistic in handiwork; their im¬ 
plements and weapons were made from stone, bones of 
animals, birch rind, etc. They used the bow and arrow 
for shooting, and many samples of arrowheads, imple¬ 
ments and tools have been unearthed in many parts of 
the country. Their canoes were made very neatly of 
hoops and birch rind, and their snowshoes or rackets of 
hoops crossbarred with skin-thongs. They lived in wig¬ 
wams or mamateeks of the shape of a cone constructed of 
poles, the whole being covered with birch bark, sometimes 
with skin. They lived on the natural fruits of the coun¬ 
try, venison, game and fish—the flesh being in some man¬ 
ner cooked. They prepared medicines from the native 
herbs. 

If any of you ever go to St. John’s, you should visit the 
Museum where you will find the skulls and skeletons of 
Beothucks that have been found in graves, and an un¬ 
commonly fine collection of implements and other relics 
that Mr. Howley took great interest in collecting while 
he was in charge of the Museum. 

CHAPTER III 

These brave, attractive, interesting people lived happily 
in this beautiful country for centuries, undisturbed and 
unprovoked, until the arrival of Europeans at the close of 
the fifteenth century. The visitors—much to their shame 
be it said—soon after their arrival in Newfoundland 
treated the Beothucks with injustice and cruelty. Se¬ 
bastian Cabot took a number of them captive; Corte Real 


12 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


took others; their presence in their own beloved country 
was actually considered an outrage by these newcomers 
from the civilized nations of Europe; they were treated as 
trespassers and shot down like wild animals. Small won¬ 
der is it that the Beothucks resented such conduct and 
manfully fought for their own dominion. But what could 

their implements of wood and 
stone do against the terrible 
power of gunpowder and shot? 

To add to the troubles of the 
persecuted Beothucks the Mic- 
mac Indians, who had learned 
the use of firearms from the 
French and British on the banks 
of the St. Lawrence, came over 
from Cape Breton and the ad¬ 
jacent country to Newfound¬ 
land because it was a fairer 
country for the hunt, and, find¬ 
ing the Beothucks here, com¬ 
mitted deeds of cruelty towards them. Hence a state of 
constant warfare arose between the foreign and native 
Indian races, and the Beothuck, in spite of his superior 
strength and courage, fell a prey to the inferior Micmac 
armed with modern weapons of destruction. And so, as the 
years passed by, the Beothucks were gradually driven 
from one part of the country to another, hunted and 
hounded down like beasts of prey. 

During the first three centuries after Cabot’s arrival in 
Newfoundland, the country sorely lacked government. 
Crews came to pursue the fisheries from many nations, 
feuds took place, piracy was rampant, anarchy ran riot. 
During the closing years of the eighteenth century, how¬ 
ever, a better order of things was introduced. In 1729 the 
first governor of Newfoundland was appointed by His 
Majesty the King, and gradually order began to arise. 
After a time the condition of the Beothucks became 



Beothuck Relics 





STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 13 


known to the governors; their number was rapidly de¬ 
creasing; soon there would be none left. 

To Governor Captain Hugh Palliser belongs the hon¬ 
our of first making an effort to preserve 
the Beothucks from further persecution, 
and he proclaimed throughout the land 
that these innocent people were as much 
the subjects of the King as others; 
they were to be treated with justice and 
brotherly kindness; efforts were to be 
made to reconcile them. It was thought 
it would be a good idea to endeavour to 
secure some of them, to treat them with 
great kindness, and then to restore them 
to their friends in the hope that they 
would tell them that the settlers desired to live with them 
as friends. 



Sir Hugh Palliser 


CHAPTER IV 

The Beothucks had formerly roamed all over the coun¬ 
try, but by the end of the eighteenth century, as the result 
of being hunted down from nearly all quarters, they oc¬ 
cupied chiefly the basin of that magnificent river, the 
Exploits, with its many tributaries and lakes, coming to 
the sea-front in the summer months in Notre Dame Bay to 
fish in the numerous streams that fall into it and among 
its many islands. It is because they were believed to exist 
chiefly on the banks of this great river that Governor Cap¬ 
tain Hugh Palliser in 1768 sent the first regular expedi¬ 
tion in search of them, in the hope that their friendship 
might be secured, that some of them would be persuaded 
to come and live among the British colonists and that gen¬ 
erally a better day for those unfortunate Beothucks could 
be opened. Lieut. John Cartwright was appointed to take 
charge of the expedition and proceeded to the mouth of 
the river in His Majesty’s ship Guernsey in September of 
the year 1768. He was accompanied by his brother 


14 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 

George Cartwright, who is famous for his pioneer life in 
Labrador, and by others who were glad to take part in 
such a friendly excursion. Having moored the ship, the 


party proceeded on foot along 
the banks of the river. It was, 
however, the wrong season of 
the year; the Beothucks were 
probably on the sea-front, for it 
was during the winter months 
only that they withdrew into the 
country along the banks of the 
river and the margins of its 
great lakes. Although Lieut. 
Cartwright and his party saw 
many mamateeks and other prop¬ 
erties of the Beothucks, they 



Major John Cartwright 


were not fortunate enough to meet a single member of 
the tribe. The expedition is interesting, however, first, 
because it was the beginning of an effort—too late, alas! 
—to befriend the native race of the country, and second, 
because it paved the way to obtaining a good deal of in¬ 
teresting information not only about the Beothucks but 
about the interior of the country. 


CHAPTER V 


In all, ten of our governors during the sixty years fol¬ 
lowing 1764 took a keen interest in the work of trying to 
bring about a happy and friendly condition of things be¬ 
tween the Beothucks and the colonists or settlers, and 
chief among them may be named Captain Hugh Palliser, 
Captain the Hon. John Byron, Vice-Admiral Pole, Admiral 
Holloway, Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Duckworth, Vice- 
Admiral Sir Richard G. Keates, and Admiral Sir Charles 
Hamilton. By means of proclamations and expeditions, as 
well as by their influences generally, they brought about a 
feeling among the public against the cruel manner in 
which the Beothucks had been treated and led the way to 




STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 15 


an earnest effort to save them from further persecution. 

Most of the proclamations issued by the several gover¬ 
nors were similar in character, so that one will serve to 
show the means suggested for improvement. Here is the 
one issued by Governor Sir Richard G. Keates: 

In the name of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, act¬ 
ing in the name of and on behalf of His Majesty 
King George III. 

Proclamation 

WHEREAS, It is His Royal Highness the Prince Re¬ 
gent’s gracious will and pleasure that every kindness 
should be shown and encouragement given to the native 
Indians of this Island, to enter into habits of intercourse 
and trade with His Majesty’s subjects, resident or fre¬ 
quenting this Government.—ALL PERSONS are there¬ 
fore hereby enjoined and required, to aid by all such 
means as may be in their power, the furtherance of this 
His Royal Highness’s pleasure. Such as may hereafter 
meet with any of the said Indian inhabitants are espe¬ 
cially called upon by a kind and amicable demeanour to 
invite and encourage communication, and otherwise to 
cultivate and improve a friendly and familiar intercourse 
with this interesting people. If any person shall succeed 
in establishing on a firm and settled footing an inter¬ 
course so much to be desired, he shall receive One Hun¬ 
dred pounds as a reward for his meritorious services. 
But if any of His Majesty’s subjects, contrary to the ex¬ 
pression of this, His Royal Highness’s commands, shall so 
far forget themselves and be so lost to the sacred duties 
of Religion and Hospitality, as to exercise, any cruelty, 
or be guilty of any ill-treatment towards this inoffensive 
people, they may expect to be punished with the utmost 
rigour of the Law. 

Given under my hand at Fort Townshend, Saint 
John’s, Newfoundland, this 10th day of August, 
1813. In the fifty-third year of His Majesty’s Reign, 
(signed) R, G, Keates, Governor, 


16 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


It will be noticed that there are two main ideas set 
forth in the proclamation: 

(a) The offering of a reward for establishing inter¬ 
course; 

(b) The punishment of persons guilty of ill-treatment. 

In some of the proclamations, the reward was offered 

for securing a male member of the tribe as a means of in¬ 
tercourse, and several efforts were made to accomplish 
this, but in vain. A few females, however, were captured, 
but in every case the capture was most unhappily accom¬ 
panied by some unfavourable incident, as the stories that 
follow will show. 


CHAPTER VI 

The First Story: In 1803 a man named William Cull, a 
resident of Fogo, captured a woman, who seemed to be of 
middle age, in the neighbourhood of Exploits Bay, and he 
brought her on to St. John’s. There was working in the 
mission field in Newfoundland at that time the Rev. Lewis 
Amadeus Anspach, who took a great interest in the his¬ 
tory of Newfoundland and wrote a book which was pub¬ 
lished in the year 1818, styled History of Newfoundland. 

As the Rev. Mr. Anspach was living at the time, any¬ 
thing that he had to say concerning the things that oc¬ 
curred during his own lifetime must be regarded as re¬ 
liable. In his book Mr. Anspach gives a very interesting 
account of the stay of this captured Beothuck woman 
while she was in St. John’s. Here is his account: 

“Another remarkable occurrence assisted likewise in 
giving employment to the public curiosity and attention. 
It was the arrival of a female native Indian of Newfound¬ 
land, brought in by the master of a vessel, who had seized 
her by surprise in the neighbourhood of the Bay of Ex¬ 
ploits. She was of a copper colour, with black eyes, and 
hair much like the hair of a European. She showed a pas¬ 
sionate fondness for children. Being introduced into a 


STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 17 


large assembly by Governor Gambier, never were aston¬ 
ishment and pleasure more strongly depicted in a human 
countenance than hers exhibited. After having walked 
through the room between the Governor and the General, 
whose gold ornaments and feathers seemed to attract her 
attention in a particular manner, she squatted on the 
floor holding fast a bundle, in which were her fur clothes, 
which she would not suffer to be taken away from her. 
She looked at the musicians as if she wished to be near 
them. A gentleman took her by the hand, pointing to 
them at the same time; she perfectly understood his 
meaning, went through the crowd, sat with them for a 
short time, and then expressed in her way a wish for re¬ 
tiring. She could not be prevailed upon to dance, al¬ 
though she seemed inclined to do so. She was everywhere 
treated with the greatest kindness, and appeared to be 
sensible of it, being allowed to take in the shops whatever 
struck her fancy. She showed a decided preference for 
bright colours, accepted what was given her, but would 
not for a moment leave hold of her bundle, keenly resent¬ 
ing any attempt to take it from her. She was afterwards 
sent back to the spot from whence she had been taken, 
with several presents; and a handsome remuneration was 
given to the master of the vessel who had brought her, 
with strict charge to take every possible care for her 
safety.” 

After the woman had been in St. John’s for some time it 
was arranged that Mr. William Cull should take her back, 
and restore her to her people, in the hope that she would 
tell them how kindly she had been received and persuade 
some of them to come and mix with the white people. Ow¬ 
ing to weather conditions and the difficulty of getting men 
to accompany him, Mr. Cull was not able to restore the 
woman before the winter came on, but in the spring of the 
following year, 1804, he took her up the Exploits River 
and placed her so that she could get among her own 
people again. This was all that was heard of her, how- 


18 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


ever, nor is it quite certain that she ever found her people 
again, for there was at the time a rumour that the un¬ 
fortunate woman was, as a matter of fact, murdered in 
order that the presents which she had received in St. 
John’s might be stolen; but it would be very sad to think 
that this part of the story is true, and I am sure that we 
all hope that it is not. 

CHAPTER VII 

The Second Story: This is the story of an expedition 
that was carried out in the winter of 1810—1811 by Cap¬ 
tain Buchan, acting under the instructions of the then 
Governor, Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Duckworth. His Maj¬ 
esty’s schooner Adonis was placed at his disposal, and in 
the month of January in 1811 his party left the ship well 
supplied with provisions and presents, and proceeded up 
the Exploits River. Although this expedition did not re¬ 
sult in the securing of any Beothucks to come back with 
Captain Buchan, it is so full of in¬ 
terest that I think you will all like 
to hear something about it. 

Captain Buchan left behind him a 
diary setting forth his experience 
from day to day. After a journey of 
very nearly a month the Captain and 
his party reached Red Indian Lake 
and were fortunate enough to dis¬ 
cover and surprise, in the darkness 
of the early morning, a considerable 
party of Beothuck Indians asleep in 
their mamateeks. The whole party 
consisted of perhaps fifty persons. 
Captain Buchan had gone thither with the kindly and 
earnest intention of befriending these people. Very care¬ 
ful instructions had been given to the whole of his party 
concerning this intention; therefore, on waking up the In- 



Captain David Buchan 




STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 10 


dians, Captain Buchan and his men began to act in the 
most friendly way towards the surprised Beothucks, and 
by being particularly friendly to the children and giving 
them attractive presents they won the hearts of these 
simple folk. 

The Beothucks proceeded to light a fire and prepare a 
meal of venison and other such foods. The two parties 
became very friendly and intimate in a short time. Cap¬ 
tain Buchan had never hoped to meet with such a large 
party and therefore had not with him sufficient presents 
to give to so many. He determined that he would return to 
his stores and bring further presents. He spent about 
three and a half hours that day with the Beothucks, and 
then arrangements were made for him to return to his 
stores in order to bring up more presents. Hostages were 
exchanged as a token of friendship and good intentions. 
I think you would like to read a part of this story in Cap¬ 
tain Buchan’s own words, and therefore there follows im¬ 
mediately part of the story from Captain Buchan’s own 
diary: 

“With the first glimpse of morn, we reached the wished- 
for track. This led us along the Western shore to the N. 
E., up to a point on which stood an old wigwam; then 
struck athwart for the shore we had left. As the day 
opened it was requisite to push forth with celerity to pre¬ 
vent being seen, and to surprise the natives while asleep. 
Canoes were soon descried, and shortly two wigwams 
close to each other, and the third a hundred yards from 
the former. Having examined the arms, and charged my 
men to be prompt in executing such orders as might be 
given, at the same time strictly charging them to avoid 
every impropriety, and to be especially guarded in their 
behaviour towards women. The bank was now ascended 
with great alacrity and silence, the party being formed 
into three divisions, the wigwams were at once secured. 
On calling to the people within, and receiving no answer, 


20 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 

the skins which covered the entrance were at once re¬ 
moved, and we beheld groups of men, women and children 
lying in the utmost consternation. They remained abso¬ 
lutely for some minutes without motion or utterance. My 
first object was now to remove their fears, and inspire 
confidence in us, which was soon accomplished by our 
shaking hands, and showing every friendly disposition. 



The women embraced me for my attentions to their chil¬ 
dren; from the utmost state of alarm they became curi¬ 
ous, and examined our dress with great attention and sur¬ 
prise. They kindled a fire and presented us with venison 
steaks and fat run into a solid cake, which they used with 
lean meat. Everything promised the utmost cordiality; 
knives, handkerchiefs, and other little articles were pre¬ 
sented to them, and in return they offered us skins. I had 
to regret our utter ignorance of their language and the 
presents at a distance of at least twelve miles occasioned 
me much embarrassment; I used every endeavour to make 
them understand my great desire that some of them 
should accompany us to the place where our baggage was, 







STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 21 


and assist bringing up such things as we wore, which at 
last they seemed perfectly to comprehend. Three hours 
and a half having been employed in conciliatory endeav¬ 
ours, and every appearance of the greatest amity subsist¬ 
ing between us; and considering a long tarry useless, 
without the means of convincing them further of our 
friendship, giving them to understand that we were going, 
and indicating our intention to return, four of them sig¬ 
nified that they would accompany us. James Butler, cor¬ 
poral, and Thomas Bouthland, private of marines, observ¬ 
ing this, requested to be left behind in order to repair 
their snowshoes; and such was the confidence placed by 
my people in the natives that most of the party wished to 
be the individuals to remain among them. I was induced 
to comply with the first request, from a motive of showing 
the natives a mutual confidence, and cautioning them to 
observe the utmost regularity of conduct, at 10 a. m., hav¬ 
ing myself again shaken hands with all the natives, and 
expressed, in the best way I could, my intentions to be 
with them in the morning, we set out. They expressed 
satisfaction by signs on seeing that two of us were going 
to remain with them, and we left them accompanied by 
four of them. ,, 

So the two sailors remained with the Beothucks, and 
Captain Buchan and his party returned to their stores ac¬ 
companied by four of the Beothucks. After they had gone 
a little distance, two of the Beothucks returned to their 
own tribe, the remaining two going on with Captain 
Buchan as hostages. As they approached Captain Bu¬ 
chan’s headquarters, one of the Beothuck hostages stole 
away, and undoubtedly got back to his people, as he was 
never seen again. This left Captain Buchan with one 
Beothuck. After having got a supply of presents, Captain 
Buchan and his party returned up the river to the place 
where they had surprised the large party of Beothucks, 
and when they reached there they found to their horror 


22 STORIES PROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


the bodies of the two sailors stretched out on the ice dead, 
with their heads cut off, the Beothuck camp broken up, 
and all the party vanished. The remaining Beothuck, who 
had accompanied Captain Buchan, took to his heels and 
escaped, joining his fellows. 

You can well imagine what a great disappointment and 
sorrow this was to Captain Buchan. This had seemed to 
him a fine opportunity of effecting a reconciliation with 
the Indians, and here by some mischance all his hopes 
were crushed. Undoubtedly, there had been some misun¬ 
derstanding. As a matter of fact, it was learned from a 
Beothuck woman of the party that was captured some 
years afterwards, that they feared that Captain Buchan, 
instead of going back to headquarters for presents, had 
gone back to bring more men and instruments of destruc¬ 
tion ; consequently, all fled into the country carrying with 
them such things as they possibly could. It was a most 
unfortunate misunderstanding, as Captain Buchan’s in¬ 
tentions were very honourable and very kindly. What 
was he to do? He felt that to pursue them would lead to 
conflict and destruction of life. He thought that if he 
really wanted to gain their friendship the best thing for 
him to do would be to abandon the expedition for the time 
being; consequently, he led his party back to his ship at 
the mouth of the river, and furnished the account of his 
interesting but unfortunate expedition to the Governor. 

Although this expedition did not lead to the result 
hoped for, Captain Buchan had an opportunity of observ¬ 
ing a large party of these people for over three and a half 
hours. He saw their mode of life, their mamateeks, their 
instruments, their implements, their food; and from him 
we have gained much definite information about them. 

CHAPTER VIII 

The Third Story concerns the capture of the Beo¬ 
thuck woman who, subsequent to her capture, was called 
Mary March. The capture was effected in 1819 by Mr. 


STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 23 


John Peyton, Justice of the Peace of Twillingate. The 
story runs as follows: 

During these times the settlers or colonists suffered a 
great deal of annoyance from the Beothucks who would 
come down to the sea-front and steal the property of the 
fishermen, taking away such things as sails, lines, nets, 
hooks, axes, cooking utensils, etc. There were probably 
three reasons for their conduct in this matter. First, they 
had a great desire to possess the property, particularly 
the things made of iron. They knew little or nothing 
about the making of iron implements and so were very 
anxious indeed to get them. Second, these unfortunate 
people were hunted and hounded down to such an extent 
that they had by this time been reduced to quite a small 
number and found it exceedingly difficult to live. In 
every direction they were barred. I do not think there is 
any doubt at all that during these years the actual want 
of food and other necessaries of life compelled the Beo¬ 
thucks to come to the sea-front to get food, or at all 
events the means of securing food. Third, they had been 
treated and subjected to extreme cruelty for so many 
years by the colonists and others that one cannot be sur¬ 
prised to find in them a spirit of retaliation and revenge. 
They must have considered the settlers as bitter enemies, 
and probably sought opportunities of taking vengeance 
upon them. 

There was living at this time in the northern town of 
Twillingate a gentleman by the name of John Peyton, a 
Justice of the Peace. In the summer of 1818 he was su¬ 
perintending salmon fishing operations up the Exploits 
River, and on a certain night a boat of his, filled with fish¬ 
ing gear 4 of various sorts, and with other things, was at¬ 
tached to his wharf in readiness for a fishing excursion 
on the following morning. During the night the boat was 
taken away with all its contents. Mr. Peyton suspected 
that the Indians had done the mischief, and so on the fol¬ 
lowing morning gave chase. He found the boat some dis- 


24 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


tance up the river but all its contents gone. He searched 
the neighbourhood for the guilty parties but in vain; and 
one can readily imagine that Mr. Peyton did not feel very 
well pleased. Later in the year he was in St. John’s, and 
made it his business to report the whole matter to the 
governor, Sir Charles Hamilton, who gave him authority 
to search for the stolen property, and, if possible, to cap¬ 
ture one of the Indians. 

Mr. Peyton was not able to undertake the excursion in¬ 
to the country in the fall of the year and determined to 
wait until the spring of 1819, when he would be able to 
take advantage of the ice for travelling purposes; so all 
preparations were made for an expedition of search to be 
made in the month of March. When the time arrived, Mr. 
Peyton, accompanied by other men, went up the Exploits 
River until he reached Red Indian Lake, and there by 
clever manoeuvring he was able to do as Captain Buchan 
had done some years before; namely, to take by surprise 
three mamateeks filled with men, women and children; 
but the Indians were not taken so completely by surprise 
on this occasion as they had been on the occasion when 
Captain Buchan came upon them. All of them ran for the 
woods. It was noticed, however, that one of the Beothucks 
could not run quite so fast as the others and so Mr. Peyton 
himself, being a young and able man, determined to give 
chase. He ran as fast as he could after the Indian who 
was lagging behind and the rest of his party followed 
him. Gradually he overtook the object of his chase, who, 
as soon as Mr. Peyton got quite near, threw herself down 
on the ice, opened her cassock and exposed her bosom to 
show she was a female and to appeal to his manhood. 
For the purpose of showing that he had no evil intentions 
he threw aside his gun, and, making all signs possible of 
friendship, approached the female and shook hands with 
her. He then proceeded to lead her back to his party, but 
as soon as he began to do this one of the male Indians 
came to her rescue and demanded that Mr. Peyton should 


STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 25 


give her up, but Mr. Peyton was determined not to do so, 
and in spite of the earnest entreaty of the Indian man he 
proceeded to lead the woman away. Thereupon the man 
opened his cassock, took out an axe with shining blade 
that was concealed there and was about to split the head 
of Mr. Peyton. Fortunately some of the rest of the party 
had then come up, and in order to save Mr. Peyton’s life a 
fellow shot and killed the Indian. This of course was 
most unfortunate, but it is difficult to think what else 
could have been done under the circumstances. 

Full of regret at the incident, Mr. Peyton took the wom¬ 
an down the river and placed 
her in the care of the Rev. John 
Leigh, the Episcopal missionary 
stationed at Twillingate. Her 
Indian name was Demasduit. 

She also appears to have had a 
second name, Waunathoake; but 
among the English people, be¬ 
cause she was caught in the 
month of March, she was named 
Mary March. 

Later in the year the Rev. Mr. 

Leigh took Mary March to St. 

John’s, where she was received 
by His Excellency the Governor 
and treated with the greatest kindness by the people of 
the city. Laden with presents, she was at a later date 
taken back to Twillingate and arrangements were made 
for restoring her to her people in the hope that she might 
become the means of reconciliation. His Majesty’s sloop 
Drake was set aside for the purpose, Mary March put 
aboard as guide and interpreter, and the many runs, tick¬ 
les, and islands of Notre Dame Bay were searched in the 
hope that the party might come across some of the Beo- 
thucks; but summer passed in this work and to no pur¬ 
pose, as no Indians were found. 



Mary March 








26 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


She was brought back to Twillingate, and Captain Bu¬ 
chan was appointed to take her with a party aboard His 
Majesty’s ship Grasshopper up the Exploits River, where 
it was hoped he might come in contact with the Indians 
and through the means of Mary March effect a reconcilia¬ 
tion ; but as bad luck would have it, the poor woman died 
on the ship on the way up the river. Captain Buchan had 
a coffin made for her, placed her in it with all sorts of 
presents and articles she had treasured, and had arrows 
made in Indian fashion, and other such things for the pur¬ 
pose of presentation to the Indians, should he meet any. 
His idea was that he would take the body up the river in 
the hope of finding Indians; consequently, up the river he 
went again as far as Red Indian Lake, but not one Beo- 
thuck did he meet. At Red Indian Lake he found the 
three mamateeks where Mary March had been found in 
the previous year. There, in order that the body might be 
preserved from injury by wolves and other wild animals, 
it was slung on high, on poles, in the hope that the Indians 
themselves would come along after the departure of Cap¬ 
tain Buchan and his party and bury the body in the usual 
manner. This, it was afterwards found from another In¬ 
dian that was captured, is exactly what happened. 

So Mary March was captured in the spring of 1819 and 
was buried near the spot of her capture in the spring of 
1820. 

It was afterward learned from the Indian of the next 
story, that the man who so bravely faced death in defence 
of Mary March was her husband, Nonosbawsut. 

It seems strange that some mishap should have oc¬ 
curred in connection with every case of a capture being 
made. If poor Mary March had only lived, or if the man 
on the occasion of her capture had been willing to accom¬ 
pany her and Mr. Peyton to Twillingate, reconciliation 
might have been effected, and we might have had living 
to-day in the interior of the country a considerable num¬ 
ber of these aborigines, but fate decided otherwise. 


STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 27 
CHAPTER IX 

The Fourth Story also concerns a female Beothuck 
and is perhaps the most interesting of all. Mr. Howley 
collected a large number of stories from all parts of the 
Islands—stories of adventure of one kind and another be¬ 
tween the colonists and the Beothucks. Every one of the 
stories is of course interesting and for the following rea¬ 
son important: It helps to establish the fact that the 
Beothucks were seen in a great many parts of the coun¬ 
try; but in this little book we are considering the most 
important stories only, and this, the fourth story, will be 
the last. 

In the year 1823 certain of the colonists were out fur¬ 
ring in the spring of the year in the neighbourhood of 
Badger Bay, which forms a portion of Notre Dame Bay, 
when they came upon a Beothuck man and woman, who 
turned out to be husband and wife. Whether there was 
any provocation or not cannot be said, but unfortunately 
and most cruelly the man and woman were shot. The per¬ 
sons who perpetrated this wicked deed were subsequently 
tried, but owing to lack of evidence, were not punished. 
A little later in the same spring Mr. William Cull and a 
few men were in the same neighbourhood when they fell 
in with another Indian man and woman. It was after¬ 
wards learned from the subject of this story that the man 
and woman were husband and wife, and that the man was 
the brother of the Beothuck who had been shot in Badger 
Bay. 

Mr. Cull and his party endeavoured to enter into negoti¬ 
ation with this man and woman. The woman surrendered 
herself but the man fled, and, sad to tell, was drowned by 
falling through the ice in an attempt to cross a creek. A 
few days afterwards the woman who had surrendered 
herself led Mr. Cull to where her two daughters were— 
girls of twenty and sixteen respectively. Here was a 
prize, a woman and two daughters—three Beothucks— 
and they had given themselves up of their own accord. It 


28 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


appears that the poor creatures were in a state of starva¬ 
tion, hence their surrender. They were taken to the house 
of Mr. Peyton at Twillingate, then to St. John’s, where 

they were treated, as had been 
Mary March, with the utmost 
kindness. A suitable house 
could not be found for them im¬ 
mediately and consequently 
they were placed for a day or 
two in the police station where 
a comfortable room with beds 
was prepared for them, but of 
course they did not understand 
the use of beds and by their 
own preference slept on the 
floor on their deer skins, according to Indian custom. 

They spent a few weeks in St. John’s, after which, laden 
with presents, they were taken back to Twillingate and 
Mr. Peyton kindly consented to conduct them up the Ex¬ 
ploits River to rejoin their tribe, in the hope that at last 
friendly communications could be begun. Mr. Peyton lost 
very little time, and not only did he convey them up the 
river, but he made them a present of a boat. 

The three women wandered about for some time but 
were unable to find any of their people. Again the moth¬ 
er and one of the daughters were not feeling very well 
and so they determined to return to the houses of the 
settlers. In due course they reached the houses of the 
settlers at the mouth of the river where the mother and 
one of the daughters unfortunately died. 

The younger daughter, called Shanawdithit, seemed to 
be in good health; she was a well-grown woman, with 
beautiful features, splendid teeth, and a happy and intel¬ 
ligent disposition. She was taken to Mr. Peyton’s house 
where she lived for some five years, and was allowed to 
do pretty much as she liked. In the household she was 
known as Nellie. 



Shanawdithit 


STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 29 


In the year 1828 she was taken to St. John’s to live in 
the house of a gentleman named Cormack, who was at 
that time taking a great interest in the Beothuck Indians. 
Here it was found that she was particularly skilful in 
drawing, and she drew a great many pictures expressive 
of the life of her people. On certain of her pictures were 
written explanations made by Mr. Cormack who, of 
course, got her to explain them. Some of the pictures 
with Mr. Cormack’s notes on them are still in existence, 
and presumably they are in the care of the family of the 
late Mr. James P. Howley, for in his book, which has al¬ 
ready been mentioned, are copies of them. 

In the year 1829 Mr. Cormack left the country and Shan- 
awdithit was then taken care of by the Attorney General 
of that day, James Simms, Esq. Civilized life, however, 
did not seem to agree with her health and she was never 
really well. During the time that she was in Mr. Simms’s 
house, the famous Dr. Carson attended her, but in spite 
of every care, in the fall of 1829 she died. Her burial is 
registered in the Register of the Cathedral Parish of the 
Church of England, St. John’s. 

From Shanawdithit a good deal of reliable information 
concerning the Beothucks was obtained. On the occasion 
of Capt. Buchan’s expedition in 1811 up the Exploits 
River, Shanawdithit, as a little girl, was in a mamateek on 
the other side of the lake, and at that time the Beothucks 
numbered seventy-two persons. Again Shanawdithit was 
present at the capture of Mary March in 1818, and at this 
time the Beothucks numbered thirty-one. In 1820 she was 
with a party who watched Captain Buchan on his way up 
the river with the body of Mary March; and of course she 
was present when, in the spring of 1823, the mother and 
two daughters surrendered themselves, for she was one of 
the daughters. On this occasion three were killed and 
three surrendered. This would have left twenty-eight, 
but Shanawdithit accounted for fifteen deaths during the 
five years, reducing their number to thirteen in that year. 


30 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


It seems very clear that these people gradually perished. 
Personally, I cannot think that they ever migrated to an¬ 
other land. In the year 1824 a small party of them was 
seen on the Exploits River by some Micmac Indians, but 
never since then, with the exception of Shanawdithit, 
who died in 1829, has there been a trace of them; so that, 
so far as is known, Shanawdithit, known as Nellie, was 
the last of the Beothucks. 

The words of Mr. Howley, in his book entitled The Beo¬ 
thucks , are very appropriate: 

“Gone, no one knows whither. Gone 

Like the cloud-rack of a tempest: 

Like the withered leaves of autumn.” 

“To-day a few mouldering remains hidden away under 
the sea-cliffs in remote localities, some indistinct, almost 
obliterated circular hollows which mark the sites of their 
former habitations and an occasional stone spear or ar¬ 
rowhead are all that is left to attest that such a people 
ever had an existence.” 

“Found here by the first European settler in their prim¬ 
itive ignorance and barbarity, they remained in that con¬ 
dition to within the memory of some persons still living; 
then they disappeared forever. Perhaps in the ‘Happy 
Hunting Grounds’ of the hereafter they are now enjoying 
that peace and rest denied them on earth. Who can say?” 

CHAPTER X 

No account of the Beothuck Indians would be complete 
without reference to Mr. William Eppes Cormack, for he 
devoted his splendid gifts and some of the best years of 
his life to the protection of these people in an earnest en¬ 
deavour to preserve them from further destruction. Mr. 
William Eppes Cormack was born of Scottish parents in 
the City of St. John’s in 1796. His scholastic education 
was completed in the Universities of Glasgow and Edin¬ 
burgh. During his university days he gave a great deal 


STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 3i 

of attention to the natural sciences. He was of a roam¬ 
ing, unsettled disposition, as the story of his life clearly 
shows. 

In 1818 he took a party of emigrant farmers in two ves¬ 
sels from the British Isles to Prince Edward’s Island; and 
twelve years later he interested himself in establishing an 
exportation trade in grain from the same island. 

In his early manhood he developed a philanthropic pas¬ 
sion to befriend the Beothucks, the aborigines of his native 
country, and in 1822, accompanied by a single Micmac 
Indian, he crossed Newfoundland, partly in the hope of 
making the acquaintance of the Beothucks. It must be 
remembered that at that time the country had not been 
surveyed. There was no railway, neither was there any 
road. There were not even paths, save those of the Indian 
and the deer. There was nothing to guide the traveller 
but the sun, the moon, and the stars. 

I have no doubt that many of you have noticed on the 
maps of Newfoundland a wavy line across the country, 
marked “Cormack’s Track.” 

This line indicates the path 
followed by Mr. Cormack. He 
entered the country at the 
bottom of Smith’s Sound in 
Trinity Bay and after some 
sixty days came out of it on 
the other side at Bay St. 

George. 

I hope that all of you will “Cormack’s Track” 

one day have an opportunity ( 1 ) Mt. Sylvester; (2) Serpentine Hill; 
of reading Mr. Cormack’s (3) Headwatersof Exploits River - 
personal narrative. He describes the country as he saw 
it while traveling through it,—the birds, the flowers, and 
the trees that he noticed—and gives an account of inter¬ 
esting events that happened on the way. I do not wish to 
spoil the story for you, for I would much rather that you 
read Mr. Cormack’s own account. It was a great disap- 








32 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


pointment to Mr. Cormack that he did not meet a single 
Beothuck on the way. 

After this wonderful journey, he went over to England 
for a time and then returned to St. John’s enthusiastic 
in the cause of the Beothuck Indians. While in St. John’s 
he proved himself in every way a good and useful citizen. 
In 1827 he established in St. John’s a society called the 
Beothuck Institute. The Honourable Augustus Wallet 
Des Barres, senior Judge of the Supreme Court and Judge 
of the Northern Circuit, was the first Vice-Patron; Bishop 
Inglis of Nova Scotia, with jurisdiction in Newfoundland, 
was the first Patron; and Mr. Cormack himself was the 
first President. This Institute was established for the 
special purpose of befriending the Beothucks. It was 
under the auspices of the Beothuck Institute that Mr. 
Cormack, accompanied by three Indians (not Beothuck 
Indians), made an excursion in 1827 through the hinter¬ 
land of Notre Dame Bay and White Bay, returning via the 
Red Indian Lake and the Exploits River—in the country 
in which it was thought the Indians were most likely to 
be found—but alas! in vain. It was under the auspices 
of the Beothuck Institute likewise that Shanawdithit was 
brought to St. John’s and placed first in the care of Mr. 
Cormack, and later in the care of the Attorney-General of 
the country. 

In 1829 he left Newfoundland, and the next place we 
hear of him is in far Australia cultivating tobacco. In 
1839 he was in New Zealand engaged in pasturage and the 
raising of cattle. Later we learn of his living in Cali¬ 
fornia, and finally in British Columbia, where in the year 
1868 he died in New Westminster. Records show that 
while he lived in British Columbia he was held in high 
esteem. He was a man who was ready to lend himself to 
any work that had for its object the benefiting of the 
country in which he lived. 

We shall now take up our second subject—The visits 
of the Northmen to Vinland. 


PART II 


CHAPTER XI 

Who were the Northmen who visited Newfoundland or 
its immediate neighbourhood at the end of the tenth cen¬ 
tury—about five hundred years before Cabot’s discovery? 
Where did they come from? What were they like? Dur¬ 
ing the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries the people oc¬ 
cupying the northwestern parts of Europe—Scandinavia, 
Denmark, Holland—were full of unrest. They were a ro¬ 
bust, daring, adventurous and cruel people who scoured 
the waters of the North Atlantic ocean from east to west 
for plunder and booty; they were, in short, sea rovers and 
pirates of the boldest kind. In vessels in which men of 
to-day would not dream of traveling any great distance 
from land, these sea robbers set forth in all weathers and 
in all directions. They have been named Vikings. 

You must not imagine that this word “viking” has any¬ 
thing whatever to do with king, for it is not so. The word 
is made up of two parts, vik and ing. The word vik means 
a creek or bay, and the ending ing denotes a class or kind 
of man. And so the word in the beginning meant a man 
who roamed over bays or creeks, and in time came to 
mean a sea rover of any kind. These Northmen who ran¬ 
sacked seas and lands during the eighth, ninth and tenth 
centuries did not call themselves vikings. This is a name 
that has been given to them by historians in later years. 
It is a fine sounding name and seems to suit these dare¬ 
devils splendidly. 

A great student of history writes of them thus: 

“Now they burst suddenly on the world with spectacu¬ 
lar dramatic effect, wild, fierce and splendid conquerors, 


U STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 

as keen of intellect and quick of wit as they were strong 
of arm and daring of adventure. 

“We see them first as sea robbers, pirates, venturing to 
plunder the German and French coasts. One tribe of 
them, the Danes, had already been harrying England and 
Ireland. Only Alfred, by heroic exertions, saved a frag¬ 
ment of his kingdom from them. Later, under Canute, 
they became its kings. The Northmen penetrated Russia 
and appear as rulers of the strange Slavic tribes there; 
they settle in Iceland, Greenland, and even distant and 
unknown America.” (They overrun the whole of the 
northern portion of France and establish a kingdom there 
under the name of Normandy). 

“Most famed of their undertakings, of course, was Wil¬ 
liam’s Conquest of England. But we find them also sailing 
along the Spanish coast, entering the Mediterranean, 
seizing the Balearic Isles, making out of Sicily and most 
of the Southern Italy a kingdom which lasted until 1860, 
and finally ravaging the Eastern Empire and entering 
Constantinople itself. Last and mightiest of the wander¬ 
ing races, they accomplished what all their predecessors 
had failed to do.” 


CHAPTER XII 

Such were the people who, coming from Europe, dis¬ 
covered Newfoundland at the close of the tenth century. 

It is over two thousand miles from the land that was 
the home of the Vikings to Newfoundland, and, great sea¬ 
men and navigators as they were, it is not' likely that they 
would have been able to journey so far, had there been 
no havens of rest on the way. It was by Iceland and then 
by Greenland that those bold buccaneers came to Labra¬ 
dor and Newfoundland. The journey from Norway to 
Labrador through Iceland and Greenland is like unto a 
hop, step and jump. Just look at the map of the North 
Atlantic Ocean and see if you do not think so! 

They discovered Iceland about 850 A. D. The first com- 


STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 35 


ers to Iceland consisted of men and women from the up¬ 
per and cultured classes of Norway. The consequence of 



Showing the Hop, Step and Jump from Norway to Newfoundland 

this was that there grew up in Iceland a race of people of 
peculiar excellence in almost every walk in life. The 
Northmen, although rude and cruel, were an intellectual 
people, who at an early date produced a literature of their 
own. And it may surprise you to learn that the literature 
of the Northmen reached its best in the colony of Iceland. 
As early as 1120 A. D. Iceland could boast of a historian 
of note in Ari Frodi. He wrote a history of the times in 
which he told of visits of the Northmen to the American 
continent, although it was not then so named. Printing 
had not yet been invented and there was not much writ¬ 
ing done. The doings of the colonists, however, were 
handed down by word of mouth from generation to gener¬ 
ation. As soon as people acquired the art of writing, the 
stories were written down. In this way, fortunately, sto¬ 
ries of some of the adventures and explorations of the 
early Icelandic colonists were recorded in writing. These 
writings are called sagas, and some of the original sagas 
written nearly a thousand years ago are still in existence 
and are carefully preserved in museums. 

In 900 A. D. there were 4,000 homesteads in Iceland; in 


















36 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


1000 A. D. Christianity was introduced through King 
Olaf of Norway, and in 1100 A. D. there were as many as 
50,000 souls residing in this Northern Isle. 

In 985 A. D. the next step towards Labrador was taken, 
for in that year a famous rover called Eric the Red was 
banished from Iceland as an outlaw and went to Green¬ 
land where he established the first home of a white man 
and began the colonization of the country. It was not 
long before there were two progressive settlements on 
the southwest coast of Greenland called the East Settle¬ 
ment and the West Settlement. Eric the Red was father 
of the East Settlement. Christianity was introduced into 
Greenland 1000 A. D. by Leif Ericson, son of Eric the 
Red, who had visited Olaf, King of Norway, and had 
undertaken to act for King Olaf in this matter. Here are 
the actual words from one of the sagas as translated into 
English: 

“Upon one occasion the King came to speech with Leif 
and asks him: ‘Is it thy purpose to sail to Greenland in 
the summer?’ ‘It is my purpose,’ said Leif, ‘if it will be 
your will.’ T believe it will be well’ answers the King, 
‘and thither thou shalt go upon my errand to proclaim 
Christianity there.’ ” 


CHAPTER XIII 

Now it was on his voyage from Norway, where he had 
visited the Christian King Olaf, to his home in Greenland 
that the discovery of Newfoundland was very probably 
made by this man Leif Ericson. He was driven out of his 
course, and fell upon a new country. We cannot be posi¬ 
tively sure that the new country was Newfoundland, but 
personally I do not think there is much doubt about it. 
Here is the story as told in the saga: 

“Leif put to sea when his ship was ready for the voy¬ 
age. For a long time he tossed about on the ocean, and 
came upon lands of which he had previously had no 
knowledge. There were self-sown wheat fields and vines 


STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 37 


growing there. There were also those trees which are 
called ‘mausur,’ and of all these they took specimens. 
Some of the timbers were so large that they were used in 
building. (As he approached Greenland) Leif found men 



Remains of a Viking Ship 


upon a wreck, and took them home with him, and pro¬ 
cured quarters for them all during the winter. In this 
wise he showed his nobleness and goodness, since he in¬ 
troduced Christianity into the country and saved the men 
from the wreck: and he was called Leif the Lucky ever 
after.” 

From that date on, among the colonists of Greenland, 
the new country that Leif the Lucky had accidentally dis¬ 
covered was called Vinland or Wineland. You can im¬ 
agine the great story that Leif and his sailors brought 
home about their visit to the new country—Vinland. 
Wheat fields, vines, big timber! How splendid all this 
would seem to the colonists on the barren shores of 
Greenland and its “icy mountains.” Of course everybody 
wanted to go to see it, and so not a few in the years that 








38 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


followed—even one of the Bishops of Greenland—made 
the venture. Some of the voyages are recorded, and in 
the next chapter we shall read the account of what was 
perhaps the most important of all those early voyages to 
Vinland, that by a man called Thorfinn Karlsefni. 

CHAPTER XIV 

The saga which gives an account of Thorfinn Karlsefni’s 
great colonizing voyage to Wineland the Good begins thus: 

“About this time (1003 A. D.) there began to be 
much talk at Brattahild (in Greenland) to the effect 
that Wineland the Good should be explored.” 

And so it came to pass that Thorfinn Karlsefni with a 
company of one hundred sixty souls, including the skip¬ 
per’s wife, Gudrid, and other women, distributed in two 
ships, with live stock and provisions, started off with the 
intention of making Wineland their home. What excite¬ 
ment there must have been! Just try to picture the 
scene. The vessels first went to the West Settlement, in 
Greenland, perhaps to complete their outfit or possibly 
because the passage to the opposite shore would be some¬ 
what shorter from there than from the East Settlement. 
Thence they bore away to the southward past an island 
that they called Bear Island, and after two or three days 
they sighted land. This must have been the Labrador 
coast where so many of our people to-day go fishing in the 
summer. They launched a boat and explored the land. 
There they found large flat stones (hellur) and many 
Arctic foxes. They called this land Helluland (the land 
of flat stones). 

Then they sailed with a northerly wind for a day or 
two, when they came upon land again, and upon it was a 
great wood and many wild beasts; an island lay off the 
land to the southeast. They called the island Bear Island 
because they found a bear on it, and the land with a great 
wood on it they called Markland (forest-land). 


STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 39 


Thence they sailed southward along the land for a long 
time and came to a cape; the land lay upon the starboard, 
and there were long strands and sandy lakes. Since they 
found the keel of a ship on the cape they therefore called 
it Keelness; the sandy strands they called Wonderstrands. 

[Let us pause here a moment to think of these places. 
There can be little doubt that they are on the Labrador 
coast. Where can they be? Some of the boys and girls 
reading this will visit the 
Labrador coast some day 
and they will find great de¬ 
light in trying to decide 
these landmarks. Perhaps 
Keelness is Porcupine Head 
and the strands the Porcu¬ 
pine Strand—both lying be¬ 
tween Groiswater Bay and 
Sandwich Bay. Apparently 
Markland and Helluland 
are north of this.] 

Now to continue the sto¬ 
ry. Then the country be¬ 
came indented with bays 
and they steered their 
ships into one of the first 
of them, and sent swift 
runners into the country to 
explore it to the south. On the second day the runners came 
back from the southward with samples of wheat and 
grapes. Then Karlsefni and his party continued the voy¬ 
age along the coast indented with bays, and after a time 
they stood into a bay with their ships. There was an 
island out at the mouth of the bay with strong cur¬ 
rents around it, which they therefore called Stream-Isle. 
They sailed through the firth and called it Streamfirth f 
and carrying their cargoes ashore from the ships they es¬ 
tablished themselves there. It is a very fine country, 



(1) Porcupine Head; (2) Strands; (3) Hellu¬ 
land; (4) Markland; (5) Wineland. The last 
three are “possible locations.” 






40 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


with mountains thereabouts. Here they spent the first 
winter (1003-1004) and here a little boy was born of 
Gudrid, the skipper’s wife, who was called Snorri. 

[Now where were Stream-Isle and Streamfirth? The 
story reads as if the island were close to land, and as if 
they did not go far into the bay before they anchored 
and disembarked. It almost seems as if it were some 
harbor of Labrador with an island close at hand in or 
near the entrance of the Straits of Belle Isle. The rest of 
the story seems to show that perhaps it was not Vinland, 
yet who can say?] 

In the spring of 1004, one of the company named Thor- 
hall, took a small party to the northward beyond Wonder- 
strands, in search of Wineland. It is recorded that Thor- 
hall was driven to sea as far as Ireland, where he was 
thrown into slavery. The rest of the colony, under Karl- 
sefni (unless a few remained at Streamfirth), cruised 
southward a long time until at last they came to a river 
which flowed down from the land into a lake and so into 
the sea. There were great bars at the mouth of the river, 
so that it could be entered only at the height of the flood 
tide. Karlsefni and his men sailed into the mouth of the 
river and called the place Hop (a small landlocked bay). 
They found self-sown wheat and vines. Every brook was 
full of fish. They dug pits on the shore where the tide rose 
highest, and when the tide fell there were flatfish in them. 

[The description of this place which they called Hop is 
very full of detail and it ought to be possible to locate it. 
I wonder if it can be the very bottom of Pistolet Bay!] 

In the fall of the year they were surprised to receive a 
visit from a considerable number of people in skin canoes 
whom they called Skrellings—possibly Eskimos. They 
are described as ill-looking people with great eyes and 
broad cheeks. Happily the Skrellings did not tarry. The 
colonists built huts in this place and spent the winter 
there. The saga says there was no snow and here their 
cattle could graze the whole winter. 


STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 41 




KlAPON I- 


MAP SHOWING 
PORTIONS OF 

NEWFOUNDLAND 
& LABRADOR 

WITH 

PISTOLET BAY 
& WINELAND 


ST. CHARLtS 




BELlfc 


ISLE 








42 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


[It may have chanced to be a rather mild winter with very 
little snow. By the way, what about self-sown wheat and 
vines in Northern Newfoundland and Labrador? We can¬ 
not be quite certain what the names in the saga really 
mean. It is possible that the wheat was what is called 
strand-wheat and the vines may have been squash berries 
—both common in those parts.] 

In the spring of the year (1005) the Skrellings returned 
in large numbers and some bartering was done. Later, 
however, one of the bulls bellowed and frightened the 
Skrellings very much indeed. They must have thought 
that the owners of such a creature were not to be trusted, 
for they retired and, returning after a time in large num¬ 
bers, gave fight. The battle was a bloody one; two of the 
colonists were killed and many of the Skrellings. 

This caused the colonists to leave Hop and to return to 
Streamfirth where they found everything in abundance. 
Here most of the party spent the summer, but Karlsefni 
and a small party returned to Hop for a season. Karl¬ 
sefni also, before the winter came on, went on an expedi¬ 
tion to the northward in search of Thorhall, but in vain. 

The winter was spent in Streamfirth. In 1006 A. D., 
because of fear of the Skrellings, and also because of 
quarrels among the party, caused chiefly by a treacherous 
woman called Freydis, they determined to return to 
Greenland. 

They passed Markland on the way, where they captured 
two children of the Skrellings whom they took home with 
them. In due course they reached the land from whence 
three years previously they had sailed. 

The saga says that the two young Skrellings were after¬ 
wards baptized, and that they gave the following informa¬ 
tion concerning their own people: That they lived in 
caves or holes; that kings governed the Skrellings; and 
that there was a land on the other side over against their 
country which was inhabited by people who wore white 
garments and yelled loudly, and carried poles before 


STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 43 


them, to which rags were attached. Was the country 
Newfoundland, and were the inhabitants who yelled loud¬ 
ly Beothucks? 

I am inclined to think that all the country south of 
Markland and Wonderstrands was regarded as WTneland, 
and probably embraced Southern Labrador and Northern 
Newfoundland, the Straits of Belle Isle being regarded 
as a bay. 


CHAPTER XV 

There is not to be found a detailed account of any fur¬ 
ther voyages on the part of the Northmen to Vinland, but 
there can be little doubt that other voyages were made. 
For example, it is recorded in the Icelandic Annals that in 
A. D. 1121, Eric Uppri, the first Bishop of Greenland, went 
in search of Vinland. Nothing more is heard of Bishop 
Eric. It is very likely that he never returned, for in 1125 
Bishop Arnold was appointed to the See at Gardar, 
Greenland. In 1285 two priests of Iceland made a visit 
to the western lands. They gave it the name of Nuji- 
fundalande, which is the first mention*of this historic 
name. In 1290 Eric Magnusson, King of Norway, sent one 
Relf to explore these lands. It is recorded in the Ice¬ 
landic Annals that in 1347 a small Greenland ship which 
had sailed for Markland was afterwards driven by stress 
of weather to Iceland with seventeen men. They had 
probably gone there for timber. This is the last voyage of 
which there is any record. But this is hardly surprising, 
as during the closing years of the fourteenth century the 
colonists of Greenland appear to have fallen on evil days. 
The Eskimos began to attack and harass them so that by 
the end of the fifteenth century the colony of Greenland 
was no more. Mr. Gosling says: “History has few more 
tragic stories than that of the abandoned Christian colony 
of Greenland.” 

But I think we have sufficient in the few records that I 
have'given above to lead us to believe that voyages from 


44 STORIES FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY 


Greenland to the northeast of the American continent 
were common during the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth 
centuries—in fact as long as the Eskimos permitted them. 

Whether any of the Northmen actually settled in New¬ 
foundland or not cannot be stated. There have been and 
there are people who believe that colonists did establish 
themselves in Newfoundland and that the Beothucks were 
their descendents. Mr. Cormack held the opinion very 
strongly, but I cannot say the evidence is satisfactory. 
















































































































































































































